What Price Innocence?
by hersheyman
Summary: Set pre-Fear Itself.  Magik's stint in confinement is interupted by the sudden appearence of a mysterious baby.  The X Men must pierce together the mystery surrounding him and his connection to Illyana before an old enemy can take him away.  Review
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing. All the characters (except one) are the property of Marvel Comics. Please support the official releases.

Even during her first lifetime, no one could know what Illyana Rasputin was thinking. She could act, hide her true feelings from everyone. Not even Charles Xavier could know what was really going on inside her head. More than once, she had used her uncanny resistance to telepathy to fool the most powerful evil telepaths on Earth, the Shadow King and the White Queen.

Only one person could see through Illyana Rasputin. Her best friend, Kitty Pryde. No amount of smiles or laughter could hide from Kitty the suffering of Illyana's existence. It was why Kitty, alone of all the X Men and New Mutants, accepted and trusted Illyana without question. It was why Kitty knew that Illyana would always do the right thing, no matter the cost to herself.

But now even Kitty is not sure of that. Now even Kitty has no idea what is truly going on in the resurrected Illyana's mind. For her friend would not have done what this Illyana has.

Illyana had let Emma Frost, the most powerful telepath alive and powered, into her mind and still kept her true agenda hidden from the older mutant. An agenda that involved manipulating the entirety of the X Men in a zero sum game against beings that could destroy the universe. The gambit was successful. The Elder Gods were destroyed, saving the universe from their evil permanently, and no one was killed, but no one had realized that it had been Illyana's plan from the start.

Cyclops, the leader of the X Men, admired her for the complexity and ultimate perfect execution of her designs, but he feared her just as much. Nearly every person on Utopia, the haven for mutants, feared her. No one could know just what was going on behind that impassive gaze.

That was why she was now in the brig, in solitary confinement, with a bomb strapped to her ready to go off if she used any of her considerable powers. It was the only way to be sure that she would carry out any more elaborate plots that would put people in danger.

Even Kitty Pryde agreed that it was the best way to deal with Illyana. She refused to even see her old friend after the stunt she pulled, not wanting anything to tarnish her memories of the person who, to help her, made an even greater sacrifice than giving up her life. Kitty convinced herself that whatever it was in the brig, it was not the Illyana Rasputin she knew.

Only Illyana's brother, Piotr, voiced any disagreement with the decision to incarcerate her. He had lost his parents, his brother, his entire family. Only his sister had come back to him, and he could not bring himself to think ill of her, even though he had been unable to stop himself from doing so years earlier when Kitty Pryde was the only one who thought well of her.

When he arrested her Cyclops had assembled dozens of the most powerful mutants on Utopia to subdue her by force if necessary. It was merely her good will, or whatever it was that motivated her to come quietly, that had prevented her attempted arrest from turning into a bloodbath.

Illyana gave no outward sign of minding her confinement, but few trusted that to be genuine. She was a woman of action. Who would have thought her capable of sitting alone for weeks, unable to use her powers, without an ulterior reason?

Perhaps that is why they assumed that she had kidnapped the baby.

It was the first time since her arrest that Illyana's face had an expression, surprise. She sat on the cot of her cell, alone with the thoughts only she could know, when the light appeared in front of her. It was not related to her stepping disks, and yet when it faded, there was an infant, around six months old, lying on its back on the floor or the cell and screaming its lungs out.

Illyana looked out of the force field that served as the door to her cell. No one was around. She called out, but there was no answer. She got up and bent down to pick the baby up. It was difficult, as the metal straight jacket that contained the bomb restricted the movement of her arms, but she lifted the child, holding him as best she could. A second time she wore an expression of legitimate surprise, because the baby stopped crying the instant she had him in her arms.

"Danger!" she yelled. "Danger!" But there was still no response. She turned to the wall of her cell. In a sudden movement that should have startled the infant, but did not, she gave the wall a powerful kick, designed to create the maximum amount of sound from the thick metal that made up her cage. A second such kick followed, and a third.

It was just after the third kick that she got a response. A robotic being walked into view of her cell.

"Not trying to escape, are we?" Danger said.

"About damn time." Illyana spat. "Care to do something about this kid?"

"What ki-" Danger saw the baby in Illyana's arms. Immediately it ran to the cell to deactivate the force field. It grabbed the child out of Illyana's hands roughly and backed out to reactivate the force field. The baby began to cry again.

"Where did you get this child?" Danger demanded from the other side of the energy barrier.

"I don't know. It just appeared."

"We'll see." With that, Danger stalked away, the screaming infant in tow, leaving Illyana alone again.

Several hours later Illyana received another visitor, Cyclops. He was not pleased.

"Where did that baby come from?"

"I don't know."

"I'm not in the mood for your games today, Illyana. Taking a child from its home crosses a line."

Illyana did not answer. Her eyes narrowed as they locked with Cyclops' visor, as unblinking as the ruby material he saw through. He recognized her challenge.

"All right. Do you know anything about the child? Anything that might help us identify him?"

"Only that he's a funny kid."

"How so?"

"He stopped crying when I picked him up. His reaction should have been the opposite. Little Nathan couldn't stand it when Madelyne let me hold him."

Cyclops looked at the floor, breaking their eye contact. Illyana had touched a nerve, bringing up his deceased first wife and his son, who had recently died saving the mutant race.

He was no longer in the mood for her challenges.

"We'll find out who this baby is, and if you're lying, you will regret it." he warned before leaving.

"We'll see." she responded, her eyes narrowing further. Cyclops turned away.

If only he had an inkling of what she was thinking.


	2. Chapter 2

Emma Frost's eyes were closed as she laid her hands on the head of the sleeping baby. Danger came over with a needle to draw a small amount of blood. They could only conduct their tests while the child slept and did not thrash about.

"How's it going?" Danger asked.

Emma opened her eyes. "He's like Rasputin." she complained.

"That bad, huh."

Emma left the infirmary. A contingent of the younger portion of Utopia's population was outside, staring through the infirmary window.

"Well, what are you all doing here?" Emma demanded. "This is not a circus. Out."

The youngsters turned to leave, but one lingered . "You're not going to let her get away with messing up another kid, are you?"

"What steps we will take are none of your concern, Anole. Get out. Now."

One person was left with Emma outside the infirmary once the teenagers had all gone. One who was old enough to have fought against Emma as much as she had fought with her.

"Did you figure out who his parents are?" Kitty Pryde asked.

"No. There was very little I could get out of his mind. Though what I did find was interesting."

"What did you find?"

"Much of his mind is unreadable. He has very few memories that I could observe."

"So he's like Illyana."

"Maybe. His memories could also have been erased."

"So you think Anole may be right?"

"I don't know." Emma looked back through the window at the baby. It had woken up and was beginning to cry again. "He thinks he's in mortal danger, and that Magik is the only person who can keep him safe. That seems to be the focus of his mind."

"And you don't think that that may be true?"

"Would put a child's safety in Magik's hands?"

"I see your point." Kitty said, looking down.

"What's wrong."

"It's just-Illyana saved me from you, and now I'm talking with you about her possibly brainwashing a baby."

"I know she was your best friend, but people change."

"But how could she have done anything to the baby? Shouldn't the restraints have prevented her from using her stepping disks or magic?"

"It should have, but she is resourceful."

"So no possibilities can be dismissed."

"Not yet. Hopefully we'll know more when Danger finishes the DNA test."/

"They're going to let her go." Anole said.

"What makes you say that?" Pixie asked.

"It's what they do. She can get away with anything, because she's Colossus' sister, or because she's a 'strategic asset.' It'll be the time Bastion attacked all over again. 'We need her.'"

"I don't know about that anymore." Rockslide said. "I mean, Cyclops put a bomb on her. He must've been pissed, cause that seems like a bit much, even for her."

"She's done horrible things." Pixie said, speaking from experience. When Belasco had created the creature of rage called the Darkchylde while attempting to resurrect Illyana Rasputin his creation had manipulated her soul into the weapons that destroyed him. This was before Illyana had regained enough of her soul to not mind being called by her birth name, to control her emotions. "But look at her compared to Magneto. He's killed thousands of people, and he's just walking around free. Why isn't he wearing a bomb?"

"You used to hate her more than any of us, Meggan. Now you're defending her?" Anole asked incredulously.

"I-I think I understand her a little better now. And she's not as bad as she was when she took my soul. She is more of a person now."

"Or maybe that's what she wants us to believe. If she did something to that baby, then she hasn't changed at all since we fought Belasco."/

"The test results should have been in by now!" Cyclops demanded. He was sitting in his office.

"I'm sure Danger is working as fast as she can." Emma said. "But no matter what they tell us, we've still got a problem."

"What?"

"The baby's not eating."

"He still thinks he can only trust Illyana?"

"Unfortunately yes. He's still terrified. It'll become a matter of life or death soon. Infants can't go as long without food as we can."

Cyclops got up and turned around. "So to keep the baby alive we have to let Illyana take care of him."

"It looks that way."

"Damn it."

"That option does not excite you."

"Letting her go when she may have done unspeakable harm to this baby? You bet I'm not happy about it."

"If she's involved we'll get her."

"If we take her restraints off we've got nothing on her. She can escape to anywhere, anytime. We can't banish her. She can teleport back from any dimension easily. If we let her go now, and she betrays us again, we'll have no choice but to kill her, assuming we can."

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Cyclops said, sitting down again.

Danger came into the office, holding a file.

"The DNA test results are in. The baby is a mutant, and I'll wager he'll grow up to be a powerful one at that."

"Why do you think that?" Cyclops asked.

"See for yourself." Danger handed him the forms.

Cyclops stared at the papers, his mouth opening and his eyes widening behind his ruby quartz glasses as he read the relevant sections.

"Are you sure this is accurate, Danger?"

"I rechecked the results three times. They are one hundred percent accurate."/

Within a half hour Cyclops and Danger were in the brig, Cyclops in full costume as if he expected to fight a battle. The came to Illyana's cell.

"We're releasing you." Cyclops said through the force field. "You're still under house arrest, though, so you are not allowed to leave the island. You will have an escort with you at all times"

Illyana walked up to the force field. "You seem upset about having to do this. Do you need my powers?"

"No."

"Then why do you feel you have to, since you clearly still do not trust me?"

"It's about the baby you found."

Illyana leaned so close to the force field that Cyclops was surprised that it wasn't burning her nose. "What about him?"

"Danger, turn this thing off." Cyclops asked. A few buttons were pressed on a control panel on the wall, a code only Danger knew, and there was nothing between Cyclops and Illyana.

"He's your grandson."


	3. Chapter 3

"That's impossible."

"Is it? You're a time traveler. Why couldn't your descendants travel back in time as well."

"It's still impossible." Illyana insisted.

"Then what do you think is going on?"

"Best guess, this is a ploy of yours to try to fluster me, get something more out of me. It's a damn good ploy."

Cyclops chuckled. "_You_ you don't trust _us?"_

"I don't trust _you, _Scott Summers."

"Why?"

"You're stunts in X Factor and with Madelyn may have been many years ago, but they are still fresh in my memory."

Cyclops reacted as if he had been hit in the face. "What?"

"You ran out on your wife and son because you heard that Jean was back. Then you formed a group that posed as mutant hunters. What did you think would happen? That you'd give less credibility to the anti-mutant movement?

"You blame me for putting everything in danger, but _you _are responsible for the suicide of a boy I knew. He was certainly not the only one.

"After what you did to Madelyn, to Nathan, and to Larry Bondine I don't trust you're judgment in the slightest. And I certainly don't think you have the right to lecture me on morality."

Cyclops' face was expressionless, but a wisp of pink smoke was emitted from the center of his visor.

Illyana smiled menacingly. "You'd like to forget about that, wouldn't you. But you can't. _You_ have to accept that _you_ did those things, that you were responsible for the deaths of innocent people. Only then can you learn from it."

"I have."

"Then what were you doing with Emma before Jean died again?"

Cyclops was silent.

"I thought so." She walked out of the cell, past him. "Well, take me to my 'grandson.'"/

The child was crying louder than before, now because he was hungry in addition to being afraid. Piotr Rasputin, the man known as Colossus, was attempting to coo him to sleep while gently rocking him. The giant man looked unusually foolish trying to take care of the small baby.

"He's inherited your temper regarding your sister, Peter." Cyclops said, smiling as he and Illyana walked into the bedroom.

Piotr nodded to Cyclops then smiled at Illyana. "Thank you Scott."

Cyclops left, and the three Rasputins were alone. Illyana surveyed the room. It was not the one she had had before her arrest. In addition to the crib for the baby there were not one but two adult size beds set up.

"It is good to see you out, sister." Piotr said.

"It's good to be out." Their accents were so different that an observer would not believe that they were born in the same house. Even after all his years with the X Men Colossus still had a strong Russian accent. Illyana's Russian accent, on the other hand, was destroyed during the half of her childhood she spent in Limbo.

Illyana took the baby from Piotr's arms. It continued to cry, though, due to hunger.

"There's a bottle on the counter, with some baby formula." Piotr said.

Illyana found the bottle and began to feed the child. Piotr smiled as he watched her interact with the baby, which was now quiet.

"He has your hair and your eyes."

Illyana sat down on one of the beds. "You really want this to be your great nephew?"

"You don't?"

"I don't like what I don't understand. And what little I do understand about this situation I don't like."/

When Piotr left the room sometime later he passed Kitty Pryde, who did not return his smile. She found Illyana still sitting on the bed, rocking the baby to sleep on her lap.

Illyana looked up. "So you're my roommate."

"Yes."

"It's not like old times."

"No."

"Scott thinks you understand me better than anyone, so you're the best choice to keep an eye on me."

"Yes. But he's wrong. I don't understand you at all."

"Why do you think that?"

Kitty went forward to take the now sleeping baby from Illyana and put him in the crib. "You're not the Illyana I knew."

"It's proving more difficult than I had imagined to convince Piotr of that fact."

Kitty glared at her. "The Illyana I knew would have gotten me out of the bullet, not left it for months until Magneto nearly killed himself doing it."

The two woman stared at each other silently for over a minute. Finally Illyana spoke. "That's why you've been avoiding me all this time. You've been angry about that I didn't rescue you."

"Yes! With your powers you could have gotten me out easily! Why didn't you?"

Illyana's eyes turned downwards. "From what I knew of your phasing abilities…I didn't think it was possible for you to have survived. I was sure you had died from the stress of constantly phasing the bullet, from being stuck in a phased state for so long, from having nothing to eat. That was the situation when you were stuck in your phased state after the Marauders attacked."

Kitty looked down as well. That incident had been the first in the series of events that led up to Inferno, and the sacrifice Illyana had made to stop it. Even when she had recovered, Kitty had not returned. If she had she could have saved her friend. And the teenage Illyana who ceased to exist after Inferno would not have fallen to the Legacy Virus the way the child who was left did even if she did contract it. It had haunted Kitty for years. Her absence played a role in the death of her best friend.

"Even afterwards, you could have found me." Kitty said. "You've been avoiding me as well."

"I have avoided my brother as much as I could, for…various reasons. It was easier with you because you had no desire to talk to me."

Kitty looked at the crib, trying to change the subject. "So, what's his name?"

"I don't know."

Kitty sat down on the remaining bed, "How is that?"

"He just appeared. Now Cyclops tells me he's my grandson, and that he'll only respond to me."

"Have you thought of giving him a name? Like Hutch?"

"That sounds like a terrible name."

Kitty was surprised. "I thought you'd like it."

"Well, you thought wrong. The thing with names is, they have a certain power."

"What kind of power?"

"Do you think Amanda Sefton could have lasted five minutes against Belasco without using the name Magik? Had he known who she was he would have not been so cautious. When he did she was nothing to him."

"I see your point. Maybe you should talk to Peter about finding a name."

"Maybe."/

Kitty did not sleep that night. She stared with one eye partially open at Illyana, who had not even lain down. The sorceress just stared at the crib.

In the middle of the night the baby woke up screaming. Both Kitty and Illyana jumped out of bed and ran to the crib. Illyana picked the child up and rocked him until he calmed down. She continued to hold him.

"Nightmare?" Kitty asked.

"Must be."

"He really needs you around to feel safe."

"It seems that way."

"That's just ridiculous."

Illyana gave Kitty a cold look. "If you have something to say, say it."

"I think it makes no sense that someone would send a baby here to be protected by you now of all times."

"That's the one part of this that makes sense."

"What?"

"Send this child when we were first roommates, and it might affect my decisions leading up to Inferno, changing history too much. Send him back before now and I've got bigger things on my mind than the life of one baby. But now? I have nothing more important to do whatsoever.

"The thing that doesn't make sense is the idea that this is a descendant of mine. I will not have any children, ever."

"How can you be sure?"

"It was a decision I made years ago, long before Inferno. I could not chance becoming a mother. That has not and will not change."

"I don't think you're anything like what you were. I've watched you when you stayed up at night before. You'd take out you're sword and hold it to your neck or your chest for hours, thinking about killing yourself. Then put the sword away at dawn. You're not suicidal at all now."

"You're judging that based on watching me for one night?"

"No. If you were still like that, you'd have used your powers to detonate the bomb you were in."

Illyana looked away. Kitty was good. She could probably have found out about her plans had they talked before.

"Talk to Pixie."

"Why?"

"Ask her about what happened in Limbo, during Bastion's attack."

"All right." They sat silently for another few minutes.

"Have you considered that the baby may be from another dimension? Or another timeline?"

"No. But it would explain a lot, now that you mention it."

"I met an Illyana from another timeline who was a mother. Her son was born between dimensions and existed in all of them at the same time."

"Meaning he could take form in none of them." Illyana interjected.

"Yeah. That Illyana was so desperate to be with him that she made a deal with Mephisto to grant him a physical form."

"But doing so would collapse all the timelines."

"It nearly did, but the boy gave up his physical body to stop it. He's wandering through the timelines even now."

"Interesting. I wonder what sort of threat they were under, if that alternate version of me had to give birth in a stepping disk."

"I-I never thought of that." Kitty said.

"And you seem to have forgiven her, for guaranteeing the destruction of all of reality for one boy."

"I-"

"I was at least looking to save the universe, even if I did put it at greater risk in the process. If I hadn't acted at all neither of us would be here."

"That's not the point! This isn't me judging you by some different standard! _She_ expressed remorse for what she did. _You have not!"_

"_Why should I? The Elder Gods were stopped. They will not threaten the world again. No one died on our side. And Pixie and myself have the pieces of our souls back. Had someone died I'd regret it, but that would be pointless."_

_Kitty still glared at her._

"_There doesn't seem to be much I can do to make you less angry with me, Kitty, and frankly, I don't much care to try. We'll talk again tomorrow, or we won't. Good night."_


	4. Chapter 4

Piotr was the one who stayed with Illyana for most of the day, as it was a job only he would have wanted. Illyana did not feel like going out to bask in the stares of the mutants who distrusted her, so they mostly stayed in her room.

"Kitty thinks we should look into finding a name for the kid." she said. "I actually agree. Calling him 'the kid' or 'the baby' is getting a little ridiculous."

"And you are asking me for help finding one?"

"You have some stake in it as well."

Piotr smiled broadly. That his sister would ask him for help on this matter meant to him that she was beginning to open up more about their relationship au didn't think of it s siblings.

"How about Nicolai, for our father?"

Illyana did not smile as Piotr expected, but she did nod. "Or Nick for short. That works."

"I'm surprised you didn't think of it yourself."

"I was not close with our father."

The smile faded from Piotr's face. He had never told their parents that Illyana had been trapped in another dimension and aged seven years there. He hadn't known how he could do it. Illyana never did either. She did not speak to them even once after she returned from Limbo. The point had seemed moot after Illyana had left her younger self behind after Inferno-why tell the Rasputins about their daughter's hardships when she was a little kid again and did not remember them-but this Illyana had the memories of the teenager who suffered in Limbo, not those of the child her parents took care of for a few months before they died.

Illyana lifted the baby up. "Your name is Nick now. Do you like it?"

A long spout of baby talk brought the smile back to Piotr. "I think he does."

Even Illyana had a small smile on her face, even if it was only for an instant./

"Meggan, can I ask you something?"

"This is about Illyana, isn't it?" She was sitting outside, watching the ocean.

Kitty nodded. "When you went to get her back during Bastion's attack, what happened?"

The girl known as Pixie did not look at Kitty. "You can read the report about what happened."

"I did. I was wondering if there was something that was left out."

"There's nothing."

Kitty sat down in front of Meggan. "Please. Illyana was the best friend I ever had. We couldn't have been any closer."

Meggan sighed. "She asked me to kill her." she said under her breath.

"What?"

"She was trapped and I was trying to get her out, cause we couldn't beat Gambit without her. She told me to stop. She said she couldn't live with herself. That she wanted me to kill her. She begged me to do it."

Kitty nodded sadly. "I thought it was something like that."

"I wanted to, so badly. But we would have all died without her. And I thought that it would be crueler to let her live."

Kitty almost laughed. Almost.

"You're becoming more like her. Keeping secrets and all."

"I know." Meggan said sadly. "That's why I hate her so much….That's why I don't hate her so much."

"I understand completely."/

Illyana stayed up again. This time she made sure that Kitty was asleep, checking that her eyelids were moving in the way that determined REM sleep. She wanted to be alone when she did this, and that had to be when Piotr was not around.

She went over to the crib where Nick was sleeping and stroked his cheek.

"I never told anyone else this," she whispered, "but the man who we just named you for, my father-he rejected me. He cast me out."

Not long before she had escaped back to the X Men, she had accidentally arrived at her home in Russia. She had been so happy that she rushed to see her parents, forgetting that they thought she was still a little kid. They denied that she was their daughter and refused to even speak with her.

"Now most of the people I cared about have done the same.

"But I can still do something about that. I can eventually work to gain their trust back, to mend the bridges.

"I never did that with my parents. I was too ashamed. I can't do it anymore. They're gone. They're not coming back, and they died thinking I was a drunk or something with delusions of being their blood.

"But you, in some strange way, you offer a second chance. I can fix things with Nicolai Rasputin, thanks to you."

Illyana went to her bed to lie down, but she looked back at the crib.

"Names do have a lot of power."/

_If the people who read this like it, tell me. If not, tell me why. I'm beginning to consider discontinuing this story, because the response has been so tepid compared to my other stories._


	5. Chapter 5

Megan had been unable to sleep well that night after her conversation with Kitty. As a result she was up early and the first in the kitchen.

"Becoming a lot like her." she said to herself as she poured herself a glass of milk. "Never. Never."

She sat down at a table, continuing to drink her milk. She finished and prepared to pour herself another glass when she saw the light on either side of her.

Facing her was what could only be a demon. Four feet tall when hunched over. Long pointed ears. Pale orange. It growled, showing it's many sharp teeth.

Pixie shook her head. "Not again." She raised her soul dagger and leapt into action./

"Kitty, get up!"

Kitty groggily opened her eyes. Illyana was standing over her, Nick in one arm, her soul sword in the other.

"Whasgoinon?"

"We're under attack." Illyana said seriously. "I need you to take Nick."

Kitty shot up at the word "attack." She was still not fully awake, but she was trained to ignore fatigue in dangerous situations.

"You think this has to do with Nick?"

"I can't say for sure, but that's the most likely scenario." She handed Nick over to Kitty. "Stay hidden in a wall. They may be able to attack you even while you're phasing. Make sure you're not seen."

After Kitty had taken Nick Illyana put her free hand on his head and mumbled a few words.

"What are you doing?"

"A silencing spell, in case he wakes up. Come on. We've got to move."

Kitty got up, staring after Illyana. She should have looked ridiculous, readying for a fight in her blue pajamas, but Illyana seemed incapable of looking anything other than intimidating while holding the glowing soul sword.

They left their room, Kitty staying close to Illyana.

"This way." the sorceress said, turning left. Kitty followed dutifully; Illyana had always been able to sense attacks from magical beings from a distance.

It felt strange, being by Illyana's side during a fight again, even if Kitty was not going to be doing any fighting.

But Megan had told her that this Illyana was more like the one Kitty had lost than she had previously thought.

They approached the kitchen and the dining area and began to here noises. Loud bangs and booms.

"Hide." Illyana commanded. Kitty phased into the wall, but kept part of her face outside it so she could continue to see what was going on and follow Illyana.

One of the demons had run out of the kitchen just as Illyana reached the door. She gutted it with the blade and went into the kitchen.

There were dozens of demons jumping around. Several of the X Men were there also, having arrived to help Pixie fight. Those with long range attacks, like Cyclops, were the most effective at destroying the demons. They were too fast for those who specialized in close-quarters combat.

Illyana stabbed another one from behind before the demons noticed she was there.

"The _Darkchylde!_" one of them screamed in a high pitched but growly voice.

Kitty heard the fear in its voice. Whatever the demons were there for, they had not expected to find Illyana.

The entirety of the demon hoard abandoned the mayhem they had been causing to collectively rush at Illyana.

Kitty had forgotten just how good Illyana was with a blade. How she had been trained in Limbo and who had trained her had been one of the many things she had been meaning to ask, before Inferno, when she thought that they had all the time in the world.

Illyana's sword moved back and forth, left and right, jabbing and thrusting as she dispatched demon after demon. She rarely moved her legs as she decimated the horde. Each move was perfect, flawless, and deadly.

The remaining half of the demons gave up. Screaming in terror, they began to retreat, to disappear.

Illyana, her eldritch armor appearing over her arm, grabbed one near her around the neck, preventing its escape.

"I've had _enough_ of your Limbo demons!" Pixie screamed when the demon Illyana held was the only one left. She had been fighting the longest and had suffered the worst cuts and bruises.

"These demons do not come from Limbo." Illyana said. She walked up to the nearest wall and thrust the demon into it, cracking it. Her armored hand continued to hold the demon by the neck while her other hand pointed the soul sword at it.

"Why are you here?" The venom in her words was enough to make even Cyclops shiver a little.

"The…child…" it croaked, it's voice weakened by how tightly she squeezed its throat.

"_Why_ are you after the child?" she pressed.

The demon began to squirm, looking past Illyana. She turned her head. Kitty had come out of hiding with Nick. As Illyana had predicted, he had woken up and was crying, but he made no sound.

Illyana squeezed the demon's neck even harder. It struggled to breathe, making gagging noises.

"Why. Are you. After. The Child." she repeated.

"The….master!" it screamed as loud as it could while being half choked to death. "Wants revenge…on the father…Stopped big plan…of the master's…Father…dead…so…taking…child…for revenge….on father…"

"Who is your master?"

The demon, despite its obvious fear, still managed to crack a small, malicious smile.

"Mephisto." it said softly.

Illyana screamed as she plunged her soul sword into the demon's head.

"Hutch!" Kitty said. "Hutch was the father! He must-" She stopped. If that was true, then Hutch was dead.

Illyana turned around and faced the X Men. One of the few things more frightening than Illyana confident was Illyana frightened.

And she did not bother to hide just how frightened she was.

"Mephisto."/

_That was short, but I think it's a good place to end for now._

_After that review I'm not abandoning this story. Thanks. Both of you._

_The thing with Illyana and Cyclops is that that's what she remembers of him. It's low on the list on what bothers her, but it is what allows her to think that the whole situation may be a trick by Cyclops. That he doesn't respond to her accusations about Madelyn and baby Cable is because, as far as I'm concerned, there is no defense._

_And if you like Illyana stories, I was thinking of doing a sequel to First Class that focuses on the Rasputins, with one joining Magneto and the other Xavier. It'll be a while before I get around to it though. I need to work better at focusing on one story at a time._


	6. Chapter 6

"Mephisto thought that if the deal went through, if Hutch got his body back, then the multiverse would collapse and he'd have access to an unlimited supply of souls."

Kitty was briefing the senior X Men on the relationship between Hutch, the time lossed and disembodied son of an alternate version of Illyana Rasputin, and Mephisto.

"But Hutch rejected getting a physical body if the cost was that high, and saved everything."

"Which explains why Mephisto wants revenge so badly that he's chased Hutch's family across time and space." Illyana said, sitting near the front of the room. "Losing one of the biggest scores he's ever had was bound to piss him off."

"But this was the only way Hutch could be more than a phantom." Cyclops asked. "How did he father a child?"

Illyana shrugged. "He must have found another way, a safer way. My mutant power is to manipulate time, not just to teleport, but I've only ever used that potential once, with Dr. Strange's help. Maybe my counterpart fully explored that ability to get her son back, or maybe when he got older he had the power as well and brought himself back. I suppose it's only natural that when Mephisto learned he'd found corporeal form he was furious."

Cyclops turned again to Kitty. "You know the most about the timeline Hutch came from. Why do you think Mephisto didn't go after Hutch directly, or why the baby was sent here and not to the Illyana of his own time?"

Kitty looked sad. "The demon said he was dead."

"So if Hutch was already dead, Mephisto could only get his revenge through his family." Illyana concluded. "My counterpart was also probably killed, so if whoever sent Nick wanted me they would have needed to find another timeline."

"That's another thing I want to know about." Cyclops said. "Why Hutch, and now you say you too, died."

"No idea. Mephisto couldn't have been involved in either death, or we wouldn't be here now. From the moment I heard of this timeline it seemed like a much more dangerous place than our own."

"What makes you say that?"

"Hutches condition, being part of all dimensions but belonging to none, could only have been caused if he was born _inside_ a stepping disk. My counterpart was fleeing some danger while she was in labor, so it must have been serious."

"Can we get to the point?" Wolverine demanded irritably. "Mephisto's gonna be coming after us, and we've got to think of what to do about that, not talking about some kid most've us have never met!"

"Understanding Mephisto's reasons is the key to stopping him, Logan." Illyana said.

"You never fought him. I have, and let me tell you, he's out of even your league, Illyana. No offense."

One of the corners of Illyana's mouth twitched upwards, and she addressed Cyclops. "I assume you noticed how the demons reacted when I arrived."

"Yes. They were terrified of you. They were surprised that you were here."

"Exactly. They were not prepared to fight the ruler of Limbo."

"And you think Mephisto isn't either?"

"My domain gives me status like his. He knows that to challenge me is to initiate war between the different realms of hell."

The room was silent.

"War?" someone eventually asked, meekly.

"My armies against Mephisto's. That's what it would ultimately come down to."

"How would such a war end?" Cyclops asked.

"It's impossible to tell. There's no way a war between two of the realms of hell wouldn't spread to the others. Dornammu, Hela, Sattanish, they'd all jump in at what they'd consider the opportune moment."

"That sounds apocalyptic." Cyclops observed.

"It is. Earth would be just collateral damage in that scenario." She looked around and voiced the thoughts of many in the room. "One child is not worth that."

"So you think we should give Nick up?" Storm asked, disgusted. "Your own grandson?"

"Not at all." Illyana turned back to Cyclops. "Mephisto doesn't want that scenario any more than any of us. That means he can be reasoned with."

Cyclops put his fingers together, forming a triangle with his hands in front of his face. "You want to go to Mephisto."

"Yes. I believe I can negotiate peace with him."

Cyclops was expressionless. "Everyone but Illyana, please leave."

The X Men were not happy to be kicked out of the discussion, but they slowly left, leaving Illyana and Cyclops alone.

"No." Cyclops said.

"Excuse me?"

"You're not going to Mephisto's realm."

"Why not?"

"You spin a good story, but you did that before with the Elder Gods."

Illyana took a deep breath before responding. "You're willing to risk so much because you still don't trust me?"

"From my point of view it's not a risk. You say Mephisto doesn't want to go after you. So he won't."

Cyclops could tell how angry he was making Illyana by how long it took her to respond.

"You don't understand Mephisto. He doesn't think like a human being. He operates with different rules."

"You don't know him either. Wolverine is right. You've never met him. Many X Men have more experience with him than you."

"So you're discounting my opinion because I haven't had personal experience with Mephisto, despite all the other ways I have expertise about him."

"I'm keeping your opinion in consideration. I will be consulting with magical experts like Dr. Strange about it. If what you've told me is true I doubt Mephisto will attack again before I make my final decision. And I don't want to chance you starting this war yourself if you go to Mephisto. So for now you're still restricted to the island."

Illyana just glared at him. Smoke was rising from where she gripped her chair.

"You should be glad that I'm giving you that much, after what you pulled. "

Illyana silently got up and left, storming past the assorted X Men who were waiting outside./

"He's doing it again." Illyana grumbled. She was trying to put Nick in his crib while Kitty prepared for bed. Nick was not ready for sleep, however, and kept on pulling on Illyana's long hair.

"What?" Kitty asked.

"Abandoning a baby that needs help now. The only difference is that this time it's not his own son."

"That's not fair, Illyana."

"He's wasting time we don't have because he's scared of me!"

Kitty smiled. "We're _all scared of you. Even me."_

"_It's different with Scott. He thinks I'm a threat to his leadership."_

"_Why? No one wants you to lead the X Men."_

"_He thinks I get my way too much, that my word has too much power. He's worried that I'll inspire Magneto and others like him to speak their minds more and what that'll mean for his little dictatorship here."_

"_Well, I think he's got a point. You have been a loose cannon."_

"_If Mephisto made a vow, he has to come for Nick, and he's not going to wait. That's the way it works with immortals like him. But telling Scott this is useless, cause he's convinced himself that I don't know what I'm talking about."_

_Kitty sighed. "Do you think Hela and the others would side with Mephisto?"_

"_A few months ago, yes. After what happened with the Elder Gods I'll probably get some more support than I would have had."_

"_I'll talk to Scott in the morning. See if we can't speed things up with the mystics." Kitty yawned and pulled the covers over her._

_Though Nick had finally let go of Illyana's hair, she stayed still. _

"_Aren't you going to sleep?" Kitty asked._

"_I can't chance Mephisto acting desperate and attacking during the night, trying to preempt war."_

"_What you said about Nick not being worth it, you're not thinking about giving him to Mephisto if it comes down to it, are you?"_

_Illyana looked down at the crib. "No."_

"_Good."_

_Illyana continued to look at the crib after Kitty had gone to sleep._

"_You have no family to go back to in your time, do you?" Nick made happy cooing noises at her. "Nicolai." She rubbed Nick's cheek, and he grabbed her finger in a surprisingly strong grip._

_Illyana pulled away, and summoned a light disk._

"_All right, Mephisto. Lets see what you really want."_


	7. Chapter 7

Hell. Purgatory. It does not matter what one calls the realm of Mephisto. It is such a horrid place that it makes even Limbo seem like paradise in comparison.

That is because its ruler is so much more merciless and cruel than that of Limbo.

Illyana did not turn her head left or right as she walked through it, but she took in every sight and sound around her. The stench of brimstone would have been unbearable to a normal person but after Limbo she did not even notice it.

She did notice the way Mephisto's demon servants all moved about with their heads down, looking at the ground.

Not even Belasco ever saw the need to inspire such fear in his servants.

When she had teleported to that infernal place Illyana had been prepared for a sudden attack. But what demons she came close to as she walked fled from her.

There was a narrow bridge of stone with a steep incline before Mephisto's throne. Illyana paused halfway across and looked down from it.

It was a sea of souls. Countless beings who were condemned to eternal suffering under Mephisto's iron boot. A suffering even Illyana, who had kept her sanity during her darkest moments in Limbo through sheer willpower alone, would have a hard, though not impossible, time comprehending.

As if to taunt those that came there, Mephisto had on display the horrible results of the millions who made a deal with the devil.

Illyana ascended the remainder of the bridge to the top of a small plateau. There, at the far end, seated on a great and terrible throne, was Mephisto.

Illyana's eyes narrowed as she took in the sight of him. Aside from lacking horns and having more unruly hair, Mephisto bared an uncanny resemblance to Illyana's old master, the man she hated most, Belasco.

Pixie, Anole, and the rest of the younger X Men may have called Illyana evil often, but they had no comprehension of beings like this. They had no idea how far one had to be willing to go to end such evil.

That was knowledge Illyana had long ago paid most dearly for.

"Greetings, Darkchylde." Mephisto's voice was a high rasp, as terrifying as Belasco's deep, booming voice was at the height of his anger.

Illyana stepped closer. "Let's dispense with the pleasantries. You know why I'm here."

Mephisto held his hands in front of his face in almost the exact same manner Cyclops had the day before.

"Indeed. We have a problem."

"That, if we are responsible, can be resolved peacefully. Negotiation is your specialty, after all."

Mephisto leaned closer. "Your terms."

"You forswear the child."

"I cannot. I have already sworn it."

Illyana sighed. "And you are bound by your oath. This is the scenario I was most afraid of. Tell me, what exactly did you swear?"

"That I would have revenge on his father."

Illyana's face remained expressionless, but Mephisto did not need to see her to know how hard it was for her to say the words she spoke.

"So you didn't swear that you would take the child. That gives us some leeway."

Mephisto laughed, a thunderous noise, and the entire realm shook. "Hutch's entire family is dead, except for that child! How else can I exact vengeance?"

Illyana stood completely still despite the earthquake that sent the demons running for their lives. "From a certain point of view, Hutch's mother is alive."

Mephisto stopped laughing. He got up from his throne and walked around Illyana again and again, surveying every inch of her.

"Assuming I bend the rules that much, your soul is not complete."

"And you would not even get that. Under no circumstances would I give you the soul sword."

"Naturally. Naturally." Mephisto continued to pace around her. "This is what you meant when you said the scenario you feared the most, isn't it? The bloodstones are useless with the Elder Gods destroyed, but the soul of the Darkchylde, even a piece of it, is a prize indeed."

"So we are agreed?"

"Not quite. As part of our agreement, I will need a guarantee from you, as magically binding as the rest of our contract, that you will not seek your soul from me, ever."

Illyana closed her eyes for a few moments. "I can give you my word that I will never seek it from you by force, but no more than that."

For the first time, Mephisto smiled. He would have leverage against her from then on.

"Then yes, we are agreed."

Mephisto extended his hand, and Illyana took it.

After the tortures inflicted on her by the demon S'ym in Limbo, Illyana had become largely inured to physical pain by the time she had reached her adolescence. But the pain she went through while shaking Mephisto's hand, the pain that caused her to scream with an effect identical to that of Mephisto's laugh, was not physical.

It was the pain of having one's soul ripped apart.

Mephisto pulled away, the three bloodstones in his hand.

Illyana let out an animalistic hiss. She had been transformed. Her skin and eyes had turned a deep red. Long horns grew out of her forehead. Her teeth had become razor sharp. And her legs had been replaced with hooves below the knees.

With a grunt, she threw her head back and willed herself back to the form she had previously.

Mephisto sat back down in his throne, looking quite pleased with himself.

"You are so beautiful when you show your true self, I will never understand why you insist on wearing that pathetic human form."

"If you could understand," Illyana said sadly, "you wouldn't be Mephisto."

"That is true. It has been a greater pleasure doing business with you, Darkchylde, than it would have been to have had to kill you as I was contemplating. I hope our future meetings will also be in the context of business."

"I'd tell you to go to hell, but that would be useless with you." Illyana said as she summoned a stepping disk./

Kitty was awake and not happy when Illyana got back.

"Where have you been?"

Illyana shrugged. "Where do you think?"

"You didn't go to Mephisto's realm, did you?"

Illyana did not answer.

"Illyana! You're still under quarantine! You're not allowed to leave Utopia! And Cyclops gave you explicit orders not to go to Mephisto! You couldn't have waited two days till he talked to Dr. Strange?"

"In my judgment, no."

Kitty shook her head. "All right, I guess. You spent so long planning your Elder Gods scheme and keeping it a secret from everybody that you can't have a problem with being impatient. You must have really thought it was necessary."

"Mephisto was planning on attacking here."

"And now he's not? Were you successful?"

"I was. Nick's safe now."

"How did you do it? You obviously didn't fight him over it."

"He was more willing to compromise than I had expected. He really didn't want to go to war over Nick, much as he was preparing for it."

"What did you compromise? What did you give him?"

Illyana paused. "Nothing. Nothing of any importance."

Kitty stared at Illyana hard. "If it's not important, there's no reason you can't tell what it was."

"A trifle. Nothing of any importance."

Kitty shook her head again. "Always with the secrets." But she was beginning to see that Illyana had given up something personal, and she had next to nothing. "I'm going to have to tell Scott. He's going to be livid."

"Scott Summers is a jerk."

Illyana smiled a little as she said those words, and Kitty chuckled. It had been so long ago that she had thrown that temper tantrum in front of Illyana in which she said the exact same thing about Charles Xavier. Illyana had been exactly the friend Kitty needed at the time, the admonishing kind.

Things had gone so far between them that Kitty did not know if she could ever give Illyana criticism as a friend anymore.

"I miss those days."

"Don't go as sentimental as Piotr on me."

"You don't want to reminisce about old times?"

Illyana finally sat down. "You're willing to do that?"

"There was so much I wanted to talk about before Inferno. I still haven't gotten over losing you."

"If you want the friend you lost back, I can't be that person anymore."

"But maybe you don't have to be. Maybe you should try to be the best person you can be, and maybe it'll be enough."

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"I've always had a problem in that I couldn't see the point in trying to be something I can never be, but to say 'this is enough,' that's a lie. It can never be enough."

Kitty nodded. "You're sounding more like the Illyana I knew." She got back under the covers.

"Illyana?"

"Yes?"

"Tell me this. Whatever you gave Mephisto, it isn't dangerous, is it? He can't use it against us, right?"

"No." Illyana got into bed as well.

"It really is nothing important."/

No one can know what Illyana Rasputin is thinking.

Kitty Pryde can guess. Pixie can even sense that something is missing. Both know that something is wrong, and want to help. But neither can truly know what it is they are trying to help with.

It angers Scott Summers, how unreadable Illyana is in so many ways. He can place more restrictions on her, but he has some humanity, and he won't go so far as to have Emma alter Nicolai Rasputin's mind to make him comfortable being cared for by anyone other than Illyana, so he is restricted in how much he can punish her. So Illyana will remain the surrogate mother of Nick for now, devoting herself to the child she sacrificed so much for.

It frustrates Emma, who is just as perturbed as she ever was by not having dull access to someone's mind.

It frightens most of the X Men, who simply have a hard time trusting her.

It concerns those who consider themselves close to Illyana as much as it frightens them. They can never tell what pain she is going through.

That is why it is the only thing Illyana likes about herself./

_The original plan was for the deal to take place on Utopia where everyone could see it, but once I got the idea to make it more of a private thing I just had to do it that way._

_Who the mother is. Well, if Hutch is supposed to be Illyana's son then whoever the mother is a generation younger than Illyana, so at this point she'd be years younger than the youngest of the New/Young X Men, assuming she'd even be born by this point. So no one has a point of reference to even consider the question._


End file.
